'Fighting Barack' Takes the Stage

In Denver, Ed Rendell told everyone to expect “a new, fighting Barack.” Now, with his lead in the polls evaporating, Obama has become just that, replacing eloquent stump speeches with loud indignant ones, the LA Times reports. His message: McCain and Palin represent not change, but a threat to civil rights. “Don’t mock the Constitution,” he thundered at a rally Monday. “Don’t make fun of it! ... It’s worked pretty well for over 200 years!”

Many Democrats have longed to see such feistiness from Obama, but it is a risky departure from his previous brand. The once-freewheeling John McCain, meanwhile, has moved in the other direction, growing more scripted since he shook up his campaign in July —and avoiding open town hall meetings and news conferences. (More Barack Obama stories.)